[The German government closed 47 exchanges, saying they were related to "illegal activities"] According to Mars Finance, the German Attorney General's Office in Frankfurt (Generalstaatsanwaltschaft) and the country's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) closed 47 cryptocurrency exchanges suspected of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering.
The Bulgarian Banking Authority (BKA) said in an interview on Thursday that the exchanges deliberately failed to fulfil their obligations to carry out identity and background checks on their customers, so-called know-your-customer (KYC) requirements.
Some of these exchanges include Xchange.cash, 60cek.org, Baksman.com, and a number of other smaller platforms. One of these exchanges has been active since 2012, while others were established only the year before.
The government said it seized some customer and transaction data during its investigation. Given that the perpetrators behind these activities often reside in other countries outside Germany, which "tolerate or even protect" such criminal activities, the authorities pointed out that it is almost impossible for German government officials to prosecute them.
Instead, they will focus on "degrading" the infrastructure that allows these illegal activities, the statement said.
Earlier this year, the BKA seized 49,857 Bitcoin (BTC), worth $2.1 billion at the time, from the operator of a privacy-focused website called Movie2k.to, which was shut down in 2013 for violating copyright laws.
The agency began selling tokens in July, sending global cryptocurrency markets reeling due to selling pressure generated by the sell-off and a simultaneous repayment from defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox that occurred around the same time.